AWOL soldier shouts killer's name in court

Saturday

Jul 30, 2011 at 12:01 AMJul 30, 2011 at 1:26 PM

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors formally charged an AWOL Army soldier with possession of an unregistered destructive device in an alleged plot to set off two bombs at a popular restaurant in Killeen, Texas. The restaurant is frequently patronized by soldiers stationed at nearby Fort Hood.

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors formally charged an AWOL Army soldier with possession of an unregistered destructive device in an alleged plot to set off two bombs at a popular restaurant in Killeen, Texas. The restaurant is frequently patronized by soldiers stationed at nearby Fort Hood.

At a hearing yesterday in U.S. District Court in Waco, Texas, Naser Jason Abdo, 21, an Army private who converted to Islam, refused to stand and, as he was being ushered away, yelled “Nidal Hasan Fort Hood 2009!” It was a defiant reference to the Army major and psychiatrist who is charged with killing 13 people in a shooting rampage at the base in 2009.

Like Hasan, Abdo was opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because he said they are against his Muslim beliefs. He earlier had been approved as a conscientious objector for discharge from the Army.

According to a federal complaint unveiled at the hearing, authorities said Abdo, who was stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky., until he allegedly went AWOL, was found to have a 40-caliber handgun, ammunition and bomb-making components. The bomb materials included smokeless gunpowder, shotgun shells and pellets, two clocks, two spools of auto wire, an electric drill and two pressure cookers.

Prosecutors said Abdo also had saved an article titled “Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom.” They said his plan was “to assemble two destructive devices with the intention of detonating them inside an unspecified restaurant frequented by soldiers from Fort Hood.”

Abdo was arrested on Wednesday in a Killeen motel room only 3 miles from the main gate of Fort Hood. He is in federal custody. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum of $250,000 in fines.